The Way I See It

Dawn Porter's 2020 documentary is about Pete Souza, the former chief official White House photographer. Souza served under both Reagan and Obama and had access to nearly the whole of a president's day. The documentary covers how those photographs were taken and what they recorded. Its second subject is what Souza did after retiring. On social media he began setting his old photographs beside current events, mounting an explicit criticism of the Trump administration, and the documentary supports that stance. That is its most contested quality. The film becomes a political argument rather than an account of a photographer's method, and no critical question is asked about the Obama years. The photographs themselves are genuinely strong and are the best material in it. Who it's for: those interested in photography and American politics. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a neutral documentary; the film openly argues a political position.